Felon sentenced for bringing bullets into federal building

Michael P. Mayko

Updated 10:07 pm, Wednesday, November 21, 2012

An ex-con learned the hard way Wednesday that bringing bullets into a federal courthouse will land you in prison, even if you'd forgotten you were carrying them.

Jonathan Baker, 35, formerly of New Haven, will be spending 34 months behind bars after pleading guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition.

"You shouldn't have ammunition, period," U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill scolded Baker, who as a convicted felon is banned for life from legally possessing a gun or bullets. "Where there's smoke, there's fire. Where there's ammunition, there's a gun. The purpose of having ammunition is to use it."

Court Security Officer Thomas Rodia, a retired Stratford police captain, identified six bullets inside a black bag Baker had. Further investigation by deputy U.S. marshals discovered a digital scale, more than 100 glassine envelopes often used by dealers to package drugs, two cellphones and a ledger inside the bag. Baker had slung over his shoulder on Sept. 9, 2011, when he tried to walk into the courthouse in Bridgeport for an Internal Revenue Service appointment.

Deputy U.S. Marshals then searched Baker's car, but never found a gun.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Richards said the defendant repeatedly lied to deputy U.S. marshals about his criminal record and ownership of the bullets, which included two hollow points.

While in the marshal's office, Richards said Baker sent two text messages to a woman. One read: "My dumb ass came thru the metal detector at the IRS and forgot there were bullets in my bag. Now I'm waiting to see if they gonna lock me up."

The recipient advised Baker to say he found the bag in "an abandoned garage or something."

"I told them I left it at someone's house for a week and I just got it back," Baker wrote, according to the prosecutor.

While Richards admitted "it's plain he didn't come into the building to hurt someone," she said the evidence in the bag indicates he's involved in drug dealing.

She also pointed to his extensive criminal record involving robbery, assaults, drug dealing and violating probation before telling the judge, "This is not a law-abiding citizen, but a person who has violated the law over and over and over again."

Despite Brown's apologies, the judge did not profess a lot of hope for the defendant.

"This is your last chance to figure things out and shape up your life," Underhill told Brown, who faces a possible life term as a persistent criminal offender. "Or you're going be doing your parenting by mail through the Bureau of Prisons."

Rodia's discovery was the latest of several alarming incidents thwarted by federal court security officers in recent years.

The most serious took place in 2003 when Court Security Officer Lawrence Sobkowich, a retired Bridgeport Police detective, wrestled William King into submission after the Stratford man arrived at the courthouse intending to assault then Senior U.S. District Judge Alan H. Nevas.